Bass drum pedal



July 30, 1957 "'Filed Jan. 26, 1956 s. A. MOELLER BASS DRUM PEDAL.

INVENTOR. Sanford A. Moeller ER'E July 30, 1957 s MOELLER v 2,800,828

BASS DRUM PEDAL Filed Jan. 26,' 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 2o mmvrox. Sanford A. Mueller ATTORNEY United States Patent ce BASS DRUM PEDAL Sanford A. Moeller, Mount Vernon, N. Y.

Application January 26, 1956, Serial No. 561,555

Claims. (Cl. 84-422) This invention relates to a bass drum pedal.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a bass drum pedal that is so designed that the heel will naturally assume a relaxed position and will not require thereby lifting muscular action of the toe of the foot to assume this relaxed position or the return of the pedal and to thereby eliminate the stiffness resulting from the anterior shin or tibialis muscle that is caused by the strain put to this muscle in raising the toe countless times in the playing of the bass drum over a long period of time.

It is another object of the invention to provide a bass drum pedal wherein the toe can roll upon the pedal to give a soft free feeling under the foot and be free of friction while the arch of the foot is supported for rotation upon a horizontally-extended spool and the heel suspended therefrom free of contact with the fioor and so that it can drop by gravity to lift the toe without strain upon the shin muscle.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a bass drum pedal which has its base so constructed and shaped that upon being attachedto the drum it will conform to the curvature of the drum hoop in such a way that it cannot be laterally released from the hoop or move therearound or be easily disconnected therefrom.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a bass drum pedal that will have spurs sharpened on their ends to dig into the floor surface when projected toward the floor from the rear base whereby to prevent the lateral displacement and walking of the pedal and drum upon the floor but retractible if conditions require such as upon polished or hard surfaced floors. 7

It is still another object of the invention to provide a bass drum beater that has along foot pedal that is so connected to the beater arm structure that the leverage becomes greater as the toe is extended or thrust upon the pedal, wherein the force of the return spring for returning the beater arm structure is automatically overcome by this leverage as the toe moves to a position where it can exert less force, the toe power is thereby balanced by a decrease in load as effected through the increase in leverage.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a bass drum pedal wherein the return spring for the beater arm is housed within the beater arm structure so as not to interfere with the operation of the foot and made so as to be easily adjusted to give either a soft or firm pedal action depending upon the desire of the drummer.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a bass drum pedal which is made of parts that are easily disassembled and reconstructed so as to adapt the pedal to different size feet of the drummer, the base being formed of two parts and connected together by parallel rods which can be replaced by rods of different length and wherein the pedal lever itself can be readily replaced by a lever of different length so that the foot can be properly located to the lever roller over which the foot is extended.

Patented July 30, 1957 It is a still further object of the invention to provide a bass drum pedal in which the drummer who has occasions often to remove his foot from the pedal can readily locate and find the proper position of his foot on the pedal when the foot is returned thereto and wherein for crash or explosive operations of the pedal upon the drum the same can be effected by a simple sliding of a heavy foot forward upon the supporting rollers of the pedal lever in the manner of a kick up to the inner side of the heel roller and controlled so that the foot is not misplaced from the pedal.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a bass drum pedal having the above objects in mind which is of simple construction, inexpensive to manufacture, has a.

minimum number of parts, easy to assemble upon the drum, compact, sturdy, of pleasing appearance, durable, effective and efficient in use.

For other objects and for a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detail description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the bass drum pedal embodying the features of the present invention,

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the pedal, Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the invention with portions of the same broken away and shown in section,

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary rear end elevational view of the pedal, and

Fig. 6 is a detail fragmentary sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 4 and looking upon the adjustable double coil return spring.

Referring now to the figures, 10 and 11 represent cast front and rear base members which are held in longitudinally-spaced relationship by replaceable parallel rods 12 and 13. The front base member 10 has laterally-spaced forward projections 14 and 15 which have opposing inclined surfaces 14' and 15' adapted to conform to the outer surface of the bass drum hoop H, Fig. 4 so that the same will be held against lateral slippage upon the hoop H and the pedal against angular displacement relative thereto. Extending upwardly in the center of the base are spaced boss portions 16 and 16 on which a clamping lever 17 is pivoted by means of its depending boss 17' that extends between the spaced bosses 16 and 16' and is attached by a pivot pin 18. The end of the lever 17 has turned up spaced end portions or fingers 19 and 20 respectively vertically-aligned With the respective laterally spaced forward projections 14 and 15, of the front base member 10. The clamp lever fingers are urged against the inner side of the drum hoop by turning a thumb screw 21 on the rear end of the lever 17 against the top of the base so as to clamp the drum hoop between the base projections and the clamp lever fingers.

On the rear end of the front base member 10 are laterally-spaced pairs of longitudinally-aligned raised bosses 22 and 23 adapted to receive the ends of the parallel rods 12 and 13. Pins 24 and 25 respectively secure the rods in the respective forwardmost bosses 22 and 23 to hold the rods against axial displacement therefrom.

The rear base 11 has laterally-spaced pairs of longitudinally-aligned raised bosses 26 and 27 through which the rear ends of the rods 12 and 13 extend and are respectively fixed by vertical pins 28 and 29 set in the rearwardmost bosses 26 and 27.

Projecting upwardly from the rear base member 11 are heel spool supports 20 and 31, the upper ends of portions 34' and 34" which serve to position the foot upon the spool and to hold the foot against lateral displacement thereupon.

Below the respective pins 32 and 33 on the respective heel spool supports 30 and 31 are inwardly-extending opposing pivot studs 35 and 36 to which the sides of a pedal lever 37 closed at its rear end by laterallyextending side portions 39 and 40 which are bent in steps and diverge toward one another to finally come together in flush engagement at their outer end as indicated at 41 that overlies the front base member 10. These side portions are braced intermediate their length by transverse spacing bar 42 secured between their inner faces. Forwardly of this bar there is journalled a leather roller 43 made up of a plurality of leather washers 43'. These leather washers 43 are assembled upon a core 44 and the ends of the core are pivotly connected to the side portions 39 and 40 by headed screw pivot pins 45 and 46. The free ends of the side portions 39 and 40 of the foot pedal lever 37 are joined together by a rivet 41. The foot when rested upon the spool 34 can roll thereover until the heel of the shoe comes into engagement therewith as illustrated in Fig. 4. The sole of the shoe will engage the roller 43 so that when the lever is depressed the roller will move forwardly thereover.

The forward end of the foot pedal lever extends through a U-shaped front support 47 having a laterally-extending closed bottom portion 48 that is secured to the front base member 16 by rivets 49 and 50 and upwardly-extending laterally-spaced supporting side portions 51 and 52. These upwardly-extending laterally-spaced supporting side portions 51 and 52 are held against lateral displacement by a bolt 53 and a sleeve grip 54 folded thereover to have its ends engaged by the side portions and held against angular displacement thereupon. This sleeve grip 54 retains a transversely-extending rubber cushioning member 55 which serves as a bumper for the upward movement of the forward end portion 41 of the foot pedal lever 37, Fig. 4.

Disposed between the upper ends of the side portions for pivotal movement is a striking arm structure 56. This striking arm structure has an interchangeable thick large diameter felt striker disc 57 that is retained against two side portions 58 and 59 by a pin 60 extending through a sleeve hub 61. This disc is replaceable by disc of different density depending as the drummer may desire. The two side portions 58 and 59 are enlarged at their forward ends to respectively provide upwardly-extending and round closure plate formations 62 and 63 that are secured against an arcuate shaped spring chamber member 64 by fastening bolts 65, 66 and 67. This spring chamber member has angularly spaced pairs of guide lug projections 68 and 69 which a link chain 70' extends through. The chain 70 is anchored to the rear projections 68 by a pin 71 and passes forwardly and downwardly over the chamber for connection with the forward end 41 of the pedal lever 37. The opposing chain links as indicated at 70 and 70" lie astraddle the end 41 of the lever 37 and are connected thereto by a pin 72.

When the striker disc 57 lies in the retracted position, the lever 37 is held against the cushioning member 55 under the action of a spring 73 that lies within the spring chamber member 64. This spring 73 is carried on an adjustable pivot pin '74 that serves to connect the striking arm structure 56 to the upper ends of the supporting side portions 51 and 52, Figs. 4 and 6. This pivot pin has a disc plate or knob 75 integral therewith that has a plurality of angularly spaced holes 76 through any one of which a screw 77 can be extended to fix the plate in its angularly adjusted position upon the supporting arm 52. This pivot pin is further held against axial displacement from the supporting arm 52 by a screw 78, Fig. 2. The spring 73 has double coils 73' mounted on the pivot pin 74 and is centrally anchored thereto as indicated at 73" so that an adjustment of the adjusting plate 75 will tend to increase or decrease the tension of the spring coils. The two free ends of the spring are anchored to the arm structure as shown in Fig. 4 by a pin 79 so that the tendency is for this spring '73 to urge the striking arm structure in an anti-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 4 at different pressures depending upon the adjustment of the adjusting plate 75. Should one of the coils 73' become broken the pedal could be operated with the other coil alone. A bottom cover 80 is provided in the spring chamber member 64 which can be removed to provide access to the interior of the chamber through a bottom opening 81 sothat the spring can be secured and anchored to the pivot pin 74 or removed for replacement.

It will be noticed that the spring chamber member over which the chain 70 rides is generally of circular shape but that the center of the circle is offset or eccentric from the true center and located forwardly thereof so that the working arm of the chain as the lever is depressed will increase to a greater mechanical advantage upon the arm structure as the toe of the operators foot descends. In other words, the decrease of the toe power is balanced by the decrease in load caused by the increasing leverage. This arrangement of the arm structures gives long are of sweep for the striking disc 57 and large striking power.

The foot when pivoted upon the spool 34 forwardly uses the normal rear of the leg muscles and when the foot is released it can fall by gravity so that the heel sinks and the toe moves up without need for using the tibialis muscle in front or shin of the leg. This caused by the force of gravity as the leg and heel is heavier than the toe. The operator need not thus use his front shin muscle to lift the toe from the pedal lever as is normally done with the present bass drum pedals that tire that muscle through repeated use of the striking movements that are used and with which the heel is pivoted at the rear of a fixed base and where the foot cannot rock upon the pedal base above the pivoted pedal lever and allowed to drop by gravity. The drummer removes his foot from the pedal many times, and he must regain his position on the pedal quickly. With the construction such as provided by this invention of a spool the shoe can be easily caught and located thereupon. The ends of the spool protect the shoe from wear on the upright supports as the foot works the lever. The drummers foot is constantly striving to push forward and hit the upper structure of the pedal but this is overcome with the present :pedal by the engagement of the front of the heel with the placed at the lower part of the lever and delivered either up to the. heel until it catches under the spool or until it passes over the spool and stopped by the blow completed of the striker upon the drum head.

In order to prevent movement of the drum pedal upon the floor surface spurs 81 and 82 are carried on the rear base member 11 at the rear and opposite sides thereof and can be extended by turning their respective heads or knobs 81 and 82 so that they protrude from the bottom face of the base member 11 and which are sufficiently sharp so as to penetrate the soft floor surface. This will keep the drum pedal and the drum from walking upon the floor. When the floor is of hard material and cannot be penetrated and should not be scratched the spurs 81 and 82 will be retracted into the base so that their points are free from engagement with the floor surface.

It should now be apparent that there has been provided a drum pedal which is easy to operate and in the use of which the tiring of the tibialis muscle of the drummer need not result from long and continued playing of the drum. It should also be apparent that the drum pedal is adjustable to the different size of the drummers foot and to the different spring pressure which is best suited to the drummer.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A bass drum pedal comprising base structure, a vertical support upon the front of the base structure, a striking arm structure pivotally connected to said vertical support, a foot pedal lever pivoted to the rear of said base structure and extending forwardly beyond the vertical support and connected to the striking arm to pivot the striking arm structure forwardly upon the lever being depressed, a heel supporting pivotal member elevated above said base adjacent to the pivotal connection of the lever therewith and adapted to receive the arch of the foot while the ball of the foot engages the foot lever to depress the lever whereby said heel can be relaxed under gravity as the toe is lifted and without strain on the tibialis anterior muscle of the drummers leg.

2. A bass drum pedal as designed in claim 1, and an anti-friction roller on said lever adapted to receive the ball of the drummers foot while the arch of the foot is rocked upon said vertically supported roller.

3. A bass drum pedal as defined in claim 1, and said base structure comprising front and rear base members, and longitudinally-extending laterally-spaced rods removably secured between said front and rear base members and replaceable to alter the spacing between said base members and said foot pedal lever being releasably attached to said rear base member whereby said longitudinally-extending rods and said lever can be replaced by rods and levers of different length so that the drum pedal can be adapted to difierent size feet of drummers.

4. A bass drum pedal comprising a base structure, a vertical support upon the front of the base structure, a

striking arm structure pivotally connected to said vertical support, a foot pedal lever pivoted to the rear of said base structure and extending forwardly beyond the vertical support, means for pivotally connecting the pedal lever upon the upper end of the pedal support means for connecting the pedal lever to the striking arm structure comprising a curved member on said arm structure conforming generally to a circle with the effective center thereof offset rearwardly from the pivot connection of the striking arm structure upon the vertical support, chain means anchored to said curved member and connected at the forward end of the pedal lever, whereby as the pedal lever is depressed the effective force arm acting upon the striking arm structure is gradually increased as the toe is depressed upon the lever to thereby increase the mechanical advantage of the lever as the force of the toe becomes lessened by its forward thrust.

5. A bass drum pedal as defined in claim 4, and a pivot pin for connecting the striking arm structure to the vertical support, said pivot pin having a plate angularly adjustable therewith with adjusting holes therein, a pin insertable into any one of the adjusting holes and adapted to be fixed to the vertical support to hold the plate and pivot pin in the adjusted position, said curved member serving as a spring chamber member, said pin extending into said oifset spring chamber member, a spring coiled upon said pivot pin within said chamber member and anchored to the pin and to said striking arm structure whereby said striking arm structure will be urged to its retracted position under the action of the spring and the spring may be adjusted to the strength of the drummer.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 922,706 Ludwig May 25, 1909 1,508,390 Gladstone et al. Sept. 16, 1924 

